Dorothy and Toto: How they met
by Bowlingforshrimp
Summary: So...this is the Story of How Jamie and Ranger met and became friends. Kind of a preprepreprequal to Jamie.
1. The Porsche

So...this is the story of how Ranger and Jamie met and became friends. It's just a short little ditty that sprang into my head...don't worry, I'm still working on The Return Of the Lone Jamie...well trying to anyway. Enjoy.

"JAMIE you little BITCH give me my money!" Came the holler from the other side of the door. I winced. Maybe I shouldn't have stolen that briefcase. But hey, I needed the money. My name is Jamie Plum, and I'm a teenage runaway. Well, technically I didn't run away from anything. Mostly I just needed to get out of my boring life or I would have gone crazy.

That's how I got to Miami, lost all my money, and stole a briefcase full of the lovely green paper from one Jack Summer. So now he wants the money back. And I already spent it to get this hotel suite in downtown Miami.

"Go away, Summer, I'm entertaining a gentleman," I said, suppressing a giggle. I wasn't that scared, really. I don't really know why, but I just wasn't scared.

I heard a key being inserted into the lock. Shit. He must've seduced a lobby-lady or something. I looked around frantically, ran into the living room and grabbed a nice gold plated lamp off of a genuine cherry hand carved table. Summer walked through the door with a gun in his hand. I was about to lung at him when I saw the gun and froze.

"Do you have it?" He asked me.

"Eh…no," I said, still brandishing the lamp.

He started towards me and I swung the lamp as hard as I could. He squeezed a round off but I managed to smack the gun out of his hand. He swore, I dropped the lamp and ran. I didn't even look back. I just shot down the hall, almost knocking over a cleaning lady. The stairwell door exploded open and I jumped down three or four steps at a time. Thankfully the hotel was a little independent name and was only five stories. I had no idea where Jack was, but by the sound of gunshots behind me I could guess. I ran down the street, frantically looking for a car with the keys still in the ignition or the door unlocked. I had met a guy in Tallahassee who showed me how to hotwire a car.

I turned the corner and ran some more. I didn't think Jack had any more bullets in his gun, but better safe than sorry. I ran past a normal looking building that didn't look very special…except for the brand-new black, shiny Porsche with its driver's side door open at the end of the block, right in front. A sun beam exploded from the heavens and angels burst into song. TA DAAAAAAAAA!

I jumped into the driver's seat, yelling in triumph as I saw the keys still in the ignition. Whoever left this car is mentally challenged…or just plain an idiot. I shut the door, cranked the engine over, and was about to put my foot to the floor when I saw two heavily muscled men burst through the door of the building. The shorter one was dark skinned, dark haired, and dark eyed. His hair was pulled into a ponytail and his black t- shirt looked painted on. The taller one was even darker skinned with a shiny bald head. They both had muscles on muscles. And they were both shooting me glares of death.

Oh boy. More people out to kill me. Oh well. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I met Ponytail's eyes and gave him a half-shrug, sent them both a salute, and pressed the pedal to the metal.

Five minutes later I was on the highway, heading north. If I went south I'd hit the Keys and be screwed, so north seemed like the way to go. I kept checking my mirror, looking for Jack's car. I didn't see it, but I _did_ however, notice a shiny new-looking black SUV. I was thinking it was the two guys I stole the Porsche from. Probably I was being paranoid…but I didn't want to risk it. I weaved in and out of cars, driving like the guy I met in Tallahassee taught me. The SUV stuck to me, following every move I made. Damn. Now it was right behind me. Damn. The car-phone rang. Shit. Do I answer? It's not my car…oh what the hell.

I picked up the phone. "Yello?"

"How old are you?" oh….Shit. I glanced into my rearview mirror at the SUV. The voice coming through the phone was low and dangerous, but he couldn't do anything to me if we were driving. So I kept driving.

"Sixteen, how old are you?" Probably I shouldn't be a smartass right now…but I couldn't help it.

"This is what you're going to do," he said, voice growing more dangerous by the second, "you're going to pull over at the next rest stop in a mile. And you're going to get out of the car. You're going to get down on the ground with your hands over your head and you're going to come with me."

"Jeez, you pedifile, didn't you hear me? I said I was sixteen."

"I don't have to repeat myself. Turn into the next rest-stop and maybe I won't arrest you."

"OH come on! Don't be so anal! I really need the car. How about if I leave it at a rest-stop in about a hundred miles? Please? Pretty please? I promise I won't dent it."

Disconnect.

Well fuck, now what was I going to do? I sure as hell wasn't going to give back the Porsche. Jack would be on me in a second. The rest stop was coming closer, and I made my decision. I turned my right signal on and switched over to the exit-lane. The SUV followed right behind me. Heh..heh…heh…just as I entered the on ramp I swerved and switched lanes to my left. Horns blasted and cars swerved. The SUV was going too fast and it was too late to switch over; they had already entered the rest stop.

I laughed triumphantly but was interrupted in my victory-dance by the phone ringing again. I sighed and picked it up.

"Look this _is_ a life or death situation you know," I said.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked me. Boy, did he sound piiiiissed.

"Well I believe I'm driving," I said. I noticed a jacket on the passenger seat. Cradling the phone between head and shoulder, I reached over with one hand and rifled through the jacket until I found a wallet. I opened the wallet and found an ID card. Perfect.

"I'm going to kill you," said the guy on the phone. Uh-oh. Probably he was bluffing, trying to scare me.

"I don't think so, Mr. Ricardo Carlos Manoso. I think you're bluffing. And did you know that you're blinking in this picture? You need to get a new ID, my friend." Now I was pushing it. Now I _knew_ I was going to get the shit kicked out of me…or worse.

I hung up the phone and didn't answer when it rang again. They couldn't do much to me while I was driving, so I wasn't too worried at the moment. The only thing I was afraid of was what was going to happen if I had to pee. I could just go in the car, I suppose, but that would be rude. I may be a little thief, but I had some decency.

I don't know how I did, but I managed to lose the SUV. In the back of my head I knew it was still out there, just hidden. But in the front part, the stupid part, I felt like I left their sorry asses in the dust. My bladder was threatening to burst so I pulled into a rest-stop, scurried into the ladies room, and did my business. I sat there on the toilet, enjoying the peace and quiet, when I heard the restroom door open. I waited for the click of heels or soft patter of sneakers but was only rewarded with the clunk of a boot. I buttoned the button on my jeans, fell to my hands and knees, and peeked under the stall door. Muddy CAT boots, black jeans. Jack. SHIT.

"I know you're in here, Jamie," he said, "you better just come out."

"Uh….nope, nobody here by the name of Jamie." I was standing on the toilet by now, hunched over so I was shorter than the stall wall.

A gunshot echoed about fifty times louder than normal and I fell off the toilet. The stall door was kicked open and Jack stood over me, grinning evilly.

"Found you," he said. I gulped and braced myself.

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After one last kick in the ribs, Jack said goodbye, leaving me a bloody pulp on the cold tile floor.

"Well this sucks," I half groaned. I laid on the floor for a while, staring at the ceiling, trying to muster up the strength to get up. A few minutes went by and I attempted to sit up. Ouch. Not good. I managed to drag myself over to a sink, grab hold of a pipe, and haul myself up. I leaned heavily on the sink and chanced a look into the mirror. Yikes. The whole left side of my face was purple. I had two black eyes. My left eye was swollen shut. My bottom lip was cut and bleeding. Wonderful. Just wonderful. This is just was I needed…right when two possibly ex-army guys are after my ass. I sighed and turned on the water. I waited for it to turn hot before sticking my hand under. I managed to wash off most of the dried blood, but it was hard 'cause I couldn't move too easily and my face throbbed every time I touched it.

The sound of the restroom door opening made me jump about a foot in the air and look up. And guess who it was. Ricardo Carlos Manoso—Mr. Ponytail—appeared first. I was leaned against the sink, both arms shaking with the effort of holding me up. The trembling in my arms increased. This was _not _my day. I shoved myself away from the sink, staggered into the nearest stall, dropped to my knees, and emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet. After that event I laid back down on the cold stone floor and waited.

I slid in and out of consciousness as I heard two soft voices talking. The stall door opened and a blurry blob of something kneeled over me.

"Jus' shoot me," I mumbled. Not even kidding. I wasn't aiming on getting another beating.

"As much as I'd like to, I don't think that's the best idea at the moment," said the blurry blob, "What's your name?"

"Jamie."

"Where do you live?"

"Trenton…" oops. "I mean…uh…erm…Walla Walla, Oregon."

"You live in Trenton?"

"NO." I squeaked. I really didn't want to go home.

The blob shined a pen-light into my eyes. I squinched them shut and turned away but he grabbed my head and pried my right eye open.

"Fruck you," I said weakly. I was this close to passing out.

The Blob ignored me and dropped my eyelid. "She has a concussion. We can take her back to Rangeman."

"Who what when where why?" I mumbled again. Everything was fading in and out. The Blob turned into the Bit of Moving Color. I felt myself being lifted off the ground and everything went black.

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When I woke up everything was white. White ceiling, white walls, white bed. Must be in heaven. My head was throbbing, so I knew I couldn't be dead. And in the paraphrased, heavily simplified words of Edgar Allen Poe, if you think you're dead—you're not. So I deduced that I wasn't in fact dead. I heard beeping and whirring and other noises that you would hear in a hospital. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but the throbbing was too much. I was throbbing _everywhere_. I groaned a little but didn't move.

"Are you awake?" a deep male voice interrupted my thoughts of self pity and made me flinch, thus causing the pain to triple, which made me groan louder.

I opened one eye and looked at whoever caused this unbelievable pain. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but once again, the stupider part of my brain prevailed.

"Christ on a moped, do you people only employ ridiculously hot guys?"

The guy chuckled. He was big. And black. And BIG. Did I mention he was big? But he wasn't the same guy from the SUV.  
"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in Miami."

"Well, duh. I meant what building am I in? Where's those two other guys who want to kill me for stealing their Porsche?"

"You're at Rangeman. It's a security company…among other things," said Big, "As for the two men you stole the Porsche from, they don't want to kill you."

"Really? That's a first."

He chuckled again. "Do you want some pain meds?"

"That and sleep," I said, yawning.

"Sorry, you're not allowed to sleep. You've got a bad concussion. You need to stay awake for twenty-four hours." Big handed me two pills and a Dixie cup of water. I downed both and sank back into the pillows.

"Fuck," I said weakly, "Well, how are you supposed to stop me from sleeping? Inject caffeine into my bloodstream?"

"No. I'm suppose to ask you why the hell you stole the car, who did this to you, what your name is, and where exactly in Trenton do you live," said Big, pulling up a stool.

"Because I stole a bunch of money from this guy Jack and he was shooting at me, Jack, Jamie, and I told the other guy that I live in Walla Walla, not Trenton," I mumbled, closing my eyes. I didn't care about a stupid concussion. I _really_ wanted to sleep.

"Open your eyes. And I need your last name."

"Mm…no and Smith," I mumbled, not paying much attention to anything except my need for sleep. Something grabbed my head and my eyelids were pried open. It hurt to struggle, so I gave in, allowing my eyes to open.

"Jerk," I said, glaring at the guy, "I told you my name, now you tell me yours."

He stuck out his hand. "Bobby Brown." I shook it. "So your last name is Smith?"

"Sure."

Bobby narrowed his eyes at me. "Sure? What's your _real_ last name?"

I groaned. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No."

"Plum," I said, giving in. I just didn't care anymore. I wanted to sleep.

"Plum?"

"Yep."

"What's plum?"

"My last name. Can I sleep now?"

"Jamie Plum?"

"Present."

"Would you open your eyes?"

"No," I mumbled, not even thinking about the consequences. Bobby sighed and I heard him stand up. I listened to him moving around the room, and I heard water running. The next thing I know I'm drenched with ice-cold water.

"FUCK!" I yelled, sitting up. Not a good idea. I almost passed out from the pain. I fell back against the pillows, my breath shallow. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I croaked.

"No," said Bobby, "I'm trying to keep you awake."

I just groaned.

The phone rang and Bobby answered it. "Yo. Yeah, she's awake. Jamie Plum. She keeps saying Walla Walla, but I think you're right. She lives in Trenton. Ok." And he hung up.

"Who was that?" I asked.

He just gave me a look.

Five minutes later Mr. Ricardo Carlos Manoso appeared at the door.

"Howdy," I said, trying to stay on his good side. I had, after all, stolen his car.

He sat down on the stool next to my bed and watched me. After five minutes under his intense stare I started to get a little nervous.

"Who did this to you?" he asked finally.

"Jack."

"Who's Jack?"

"The wicked witch of the west," I mumbled. My eyelids were drooping lower. God I wanted to sleep.

Another douse of freezing water made me flinch. Flinching was bad. I whimpered a little bit. "You people have sick minds," I said, glaring at Ricardo Carlos Manoso.

"If you keep closing your eyes I'm going to pour more water on you," he said. "Who's Jack?"

"He's this guy I stole a suitcase of money from."

"And?"

"And I spent it."

"And?"

"And now he wants it back. What is this, twenty questions?"

Ricardo Carlos Manoso didn't answer me. Another guy walked in. It was the other guy from the SUV. He handed Ricardo Carlos Manoso a file and disappeared. Manoso opened the file and looked down.

"Jamie Rose Plum, sixteen years of age. Sophomore in high school, good grades. Has been arrested on account of driving without a license. Ran away from home two weeks ago."

"Oh so now you think you know me, eh?"

"Everything I need to know is in this file."

"Oh yeah? When was my last ob/gyn?"

"March fourth of last year, 10 o'clock in the morning."

I winced. "Fine. So you know me. Can I sleep now?"

"No. Stop asking. You can't sleep for twenty-four hours."

"Well how am I suppose to stay awake? I'm tired."

"You can figure that out. Tomorrow we're leaving. I'm putting you on a plane back to Trenton." With that, he left.

I sighed and shifted to get more comfortable. I couldn't believe this was happening. All I had wanted was a little adventure.


	2. Uncle Carlos

Chappie 2

Twenty-four hours passed by slowly but surely. I was allowed to walk around a little but I had to have someone with me. Lester Santos was assigned to watch over me. He was 21 years old, and of course he was amazing looking. Mostly we just played cards. Lester was the easiest to talk to because he was the youngest. I found out that the Ricardo guy was known as Ranger and that he was the boss. The other guy from the SUV was known as Tank. At random intervals of the day guys poked their head in to see the teenager the boss had dragged in. I met a bunch of guys. Ranger's brother Jordan, Cal, Junior, Eric, and a guy who's name I didn't catch to I called him Cement-Head

Finally the twenty-four hours were up and I kicked everyone out of my room so I could sleep. Six hours later I was woken up by none other than the boss himself.

"Whadda ya want?" I groaned, trying to turn away from the blinding light.

"We're leaving. Your plane leaves in two hours."

I was dragged out of bed and my newly washed clothes were handed to me. I kicked Ranger out of my room so I could use the little attached shower. Ranger was waiting for me in the hallway. I followed him down to the garage, gladly taking the elevator because I was still pretty weak. When I inquired about food, Ranger said we'd stop at a McDonald's or something. I guess he wanted to get rid of me. Oh well, I guess I don't really blame him.

We were passing my hotel when I suddenly remembered I'd left my messenger bag in my room. It was the only thing I'd taken with me. Three bras, three panties, two extra shirts, a wad of money, a pocketknife, a handful of granola bars, my cell phone, pens, a bottle of water, a deck of cards, and an atlas were all I had taken when I left two and a half weeks ago.

"FUCK! Go back!" I yelled at Ranger.

"Why?" he asked me, looking at me like I was crazy. I probably was.

"I left my bag in my hotel. I need to go get it."

Ranger did a U-turn and pulled up to the curb in front of the front door. He idled while I rushed up to my room to grab my stuff. I didn't bother handing my key back to the front desk. There was a good possibility I'd be back within the week.

"Got everything?" Ranger asked when I climbed into the passenger seat of his Porsche.

"Yup," I said, "Hey is this the Porsche I stole?" I asked, looking over at Ranger.

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. It was first time I'd seen him come close to smiling. "Yeah, I thought it'd be a nice send-off."

"Cool. You know you probably shouldn't leave it just sitting at the curb, doors open with the keys dangling from the ignition. That was stupid."

"There was an emergency and I needed to get into the building fast. I didn't have any time to take the keys or close the door."

"Well you could have at least driven it into the garage."

"I had someone watching it for me. Maybe I should fire him."

"That would be mean. I think he's probably embarrassed enough having a kid steal a car right from under his nose."

This time the smile was full on. And omijeezus was that smile gorgeous. I think I might have fainted.

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Twenty minutes later we were at the airport, I was checked in, had my pocketknife taken away, and Ranger was sitting with me at the terminal. People were giving us weird looks 'cause I was covered with bruises and cuts. Most of them were shooting Ranger dirty looks, probably because they thought he did it. Ranger had left his weapons in the Porsche and I could tell he felt vulnerable.

"You know you could just hide a blackjack in your boot. That's what I do," I said, breaking the silence.

Ranger glanced over at me. I reached down into my boot and pulled out my little sap. It was a short, rounded piece of wood, good for knocking on heads. Being a teenage girl all alone in a strange place meant I needed to have some sort of weapon to fend off the psychos. Lord knows how many times I'd had to use it already.

"I've never thought of that," Ranger said, taking the blackjack from me, "Doesn't it get uncomfortable?"

"For the first few days, yeah, but if you get one that's small enough but still dangerous you get used to it." I took my blackjack back and stuck it in back into my boot, behind my foot. "The best part is, if I lose my pocket-knife at an airport I still have a weapon 'cause it's wood."

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"Rows 30-34 now boarding," the lady over the intercom said. My seat was in row 33. I stood up and yawned, turning to Ranger, who had also stood up.

"Well, Ranger old chap, it's been a pleasure," I said, sticking out my hand.

Ranger smiled and took it. "A pleasure."

A thought struck me as I took my seat. I dug through my bag, searching for the card I swiped from Ranger's wallet. I found his cell number and used my phone to call it.

"Yo," Ranger answered.

"Say, what were you thinking when I stole your car?"

"First I was thinking how badly I was going to hurt you, but then once I spoke to you on the phone, I was thinking 'shit, this kid has balls'."

I laughed and disconnected because the lady on the intercom was saying no cell phones or electronics on at this time.

So I guess I was going back to Trenton. Oh well. I'll just buy a ticket to Nepal or something once I land. I looked out over Miami as the plane flew higher, figuring that I'd never see Ranger or Tank or Lester or Bobby ever again. Boy, was I ever wrong.

777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

I was in Key West, and what a beautiful place _that_ was. Sunny and gorgeous, it was like a mix between a small town and a jungle. Chickens roamed the streets, there were hardly any cars, and the food was pretty wonderful. But I wasn't enjoying the sights right then. Nope, I was being hauled in for driving drunk, driving without a license, and auto theft. Now, I can hold my liquor. I can do anything while I'm drunk. So the problem wasn't that I was driving recklessly, I just got pulled over because the cop thought I flipped him off or something. When he asked for my license and registration I told him I didn't know where the registration was seeing as it wasn't even my car. That didn't make Mr. Cop happy, so he hauled me in.

"Don't I get one phone call?" I asked, leaning on the bars of my jail cell. I saw the cop searching my bag on the other side of the room, at his desk. He was pulling out everything, probably looking for drugs or something.

"Hey ya know I'd appreciate if you wouldn't go through my underwear." I said. The cop looked up and glared at me, telling me to shut up and that he'd get to me in a second.

So I leaned back on my little cot and stared at the ceiling. Ten minutes later the cell door was opened. "One phone call," said the cop, leading me to his desk.

I sat there, staring at the phone, wondering who to call. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. I didn't want to call my parents. I could call Charlie, a guy I met in Tallahassee a few weeks ago, but I didn't know his number. I looked over at a stack of phone books leaning against the wall. I looked back at the phone. I knew Key West zip code, I could just dial a random number and tell whoever picked up to come and get me.

"Well?" snapped the cop, wrenching me back into reality.

Without thinking, I reached into the pile of my stuff on the cop's desk and grabbed a white business card. I flipped it over and stared at it.

**Ricardo Carlos Manoso**

**Rangeman LLC**

Under that was two phone numbers. A cell number and a work number. I chose the cell number.

"Yo," a familiar voice answered. I had met the owner of that voice three days ago in Miami.

"Hey Uncle Carlos, it's Jamie." I figured only family members could come bail me out of jail, and Carlos sounded more Uncle-esque.

"Jamie," Ranger said, sounding exasperated.

"Yup, it's me. Anywho, I was wondering where you are right now."

"I'm in Miami, Jamie, what do you want?"

"Well, you see Uncle Carlos, I kinda stole a car and now I'm at the Key West county jail and I was wondering if you'd come get me. I would call Dad but you know how he is, he'd have a heart attack if he found out I'd gotten arrested. So whadda ya say?"

"Christ Jamie, do you think I'm going to come all the way down to Key West to bail you out of jail for stealing _another_ car?"

"Yes. Please," I said. I knew he would do it. He liked me. I could tell.

An audible sigh escaped his mouth. "I'll be there in two hours. You're lucky I have a job down there tonight or I wouldn't be coming."

"Sure you wouldn't. Thanks Uncle Carlos. See you in a couple of hours."

"I'm going to need to see your birth certificate to make sure you're really family," the cop told me.

"Oh and Uncle Carlos, could you bring my birth certificate? The cop says he needs to make sure you're family."

"I'll have one," Ranger said and he disconnected. I put the phone onto the receiver and looked at the cop.

"He'll be here in a couple hours," I said. The cop locked me back into the jail cell and I flopped onto the cot and went to sleep.

"Jamie, your uncle is here," I heard the cop say. I sat up and sure enough there was Ricardo Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, standing with the cop. He stood there in his glorious hotness, with mocha latte skin wearing a painted on black shirt and black cargo pants with big black combat boots. I winked at him and stood up.

"Hey Uncle Carlos," I said. The cop opened the cell door and I came out, standing next to Ranger. The cop asked for my birth certificate and Ranger's ID. Ranger handed it over. The cop inspected it and nodded his approval, handing it back to Ranger. The cop gathered my stuff together, gave me slip of paper that said I was to be in court in ten days, and dismissed us.

"How much was the bail?" I asked, climbing into the front seat of a shiny black SUV.

"Eight hundred. You owe me."

"Yeah I know." I caught a glance at the birth certificate. My birthday and time of birth were all correct but the name was Jamie Manoso instead of Plum.

"Cool. I'm a Manoso now."

Ranger's mouth twitched but he didn't respond.

"So where are we going?"

"I'm staying in a hotel on Duval," Ranger said. He stopped at an intersection and he turned to me. "I know how you can pay me back."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh yeah? How?"

"I need to lure a guy out of a bar tonight, and I expect it would be easier if he came willingly instead of me or Tank dragging him out."

"And?"

"And I think he wouldn't suspect anything if a hot, young woman caught his attention and led him out."

I snorted and laughed to hide the fact that my face was turning bright red. "You think I'm hot? Are you kidding me? I haven't got any boobs." Okay, so that wasn't entirely true, I was a 32B.

Ranger flicked his eyes over at me. "I beg to differ," he said.

Even brighter red. I didn't even know it was medically possible to blush that much. "And besides," I continued, "I'm seventeen. I'm not even a legal adult. You could get arrested for thinking that." Not that I minded.

"I thought you were sixteen."

"My birthday was yesterday."

Ranger pressed the accelerator and drove through the intersection. "Happy birthday," he said softly.

The rest of the drive was silent. I was thinking maybe it wasn't a bad idea to do this job for Ranger. I did owe him a favor, and at least he hadn't asked for anything gross, right?

Ranger pulled into a parking space in front of a small hotel. He turned off the car and I turned and looked at him. "So what goes into this whole luring-criminal-out-of-bar thing?"

"You go in looking sexy enough to catch the guy's attention. Then you flirt enough so you keep his attention. Don't worry; you'd be wearing a wire. And then you ask him if he wants to go somewhere quieter. The instant you get him outside the door Tank or I will slap on the cuffs."

Hmm. It sounded fun.

"And don't worry about getting into the bar, I can get you a fake ID."

I laughed out loud. "Hell, you won't have to worry about that. I've had a fake ID since I left home," I said, grinning at him, "Why do you think I got arrested?"

"For stealing a car?"

"Well yeah, that too, but also cause I was drunk outta my mind. And I still am."

Ranger shook his head and opened the driver's side door. I climbed out of the SUV with my bag and followed him into the hotel.

"You know I'm going to have to go shopping for clothes if I have to look sexy," I said to Ranger when we were in the elevator, "And I haven't got any money."

"Rangeman will pay," he said simply.

Cool.

The elevator binged open on floor three. I followed Ranger down the hall and into room 315. We went in and there was Tank, Lester, Bobby, and Jordan all sitting around a table playing cards. They all looked up when the door opened and grinned when they saw me, calling out greetings.

"Howdy," I said. I looked around the room. A queen-sized bed, mini kitchen. "You don't all share this room, do you?"

Lester grinned at me. "Nah, Ranger is alone in this room, me an' Bobby got the one next door, and Jordan and Tank are across the hall."

There was a door adjoining Bobby and Lester's room with Ranger's. "Ah. Okay, 'cause that would-a been a little creepy, no offense."

"Jamie is our secret weapon," Ranger said from behind me, "She's going to be luring Winston out of the bar tonight."

I smiled as the boys laughed. "Yeah so I need to go shopping for a sexy dress, anyone want to join me?"


	3. Shopping and Distraction

Chaptah' 3

I conned Lester into taking me shopping. Okay, so I hadn't conned him. He volunteered. And besides, I felt the most comfortable around him because we were so close in age. Lester took me to all the clothes stores within a twenty-mile radius of Key West, which was a lot. Key West wasn't a big place. I finally decided on a white halter top and a short peasanty-looking, light blue skirt. My bruises from Jack's 'lecture' were almost gone. You barely noticed the ones on my arms and legs, and the darkest ones were my ribs. The skirt hit right at my knees and I could adjust the top to make it just short enough to see a bit of my belly-button ring. Yes, I had a belly-button ring. I got it in result of a failed bet. Lester's jaw hit the floor when he saw it.

"God'amighty, if you were just a couple of years older…" he said, eyeing me.

"Don't get any ideas, wise-guy," I said, retreating back into the changing room. While I was shopping I had decided to buy some shorts 'cause Key West wasn't exactly Antarctica, and I bought a few more tank-tops and a new charm for my belly-button.

Lester seemed bored after three hours so I suggested we get some food. We stopped at a little stand right up against on the sidewalk. We sat side by side at a picnic table in Mallory square, enjoying the sun and food.

"Can I ask you something?" Lester said suddenly.

"I don't think I have a choice, seeing as you just did," I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He ignored that witty comment. "Why'd you run away from home?"

Ah. "Ah." I turned back to my sandwich. Not even _I_ was clear on that. It's not like I was having family issues. Stephanie, my older sister, was already divorced. My oldest sister Valerie got married and is living happily in California. My parents were cool. My Grandma Mazur was the shit. I really had nothing to complain about.

"Abusive parents?" Lester asked softly, wrenching me back into reality.

I choked on my food. "Oh God no, nothing like that. I would be more screwed up than I already am." I shrugged. "I was just bored I guess. I needed to get out and go places."

Lester nodded and turned back to his hotdog, or rather, hotdogs. We sat in silence for a minute and he spoke up again. "So…do you keep in contact?"

"Ah…no…I don't really think that's the best idea right now…I sent my parents a letter telling them I was fine…but I don't think I could stand them begging me to come home when I wasn't ready." Boy, did I sound like the perfect daughter right then. I looked over at Lester, suddenly nervous, but he just nodded and fell silent again. I was glad he didn't try to lecture me or anything.

"I understand," Lester said, and that was the last he spoke of the topic. I was relieved.

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It was six thirty when Lester and I got back to the hotel. We were supposed to be leaving at seven thirty, so I was pretty panicked on time. I had no idea what I was going to do with my hair. So I kicked everyone out of Ranger's hotel room and showered.

My hair is naturally curly. It's a lighter brown than Stephanie's, and it hangs past my shoulders. I usually keep it in braids, but tonight I figured I would wear it down, in a sexy mussed look.

The finishing touch to my outfit was my little martini glass belly button charm, hanging on a little gold chain. I took one last look at myself, making sure I looked hot. I guess I wouldn't know for sure until I got the guys' reaction.

I opened the door adjoining Ranger's room to Lester's and Bobby's and peered out.

"Okay, I'm ready."

They all looked up at me and five jaws thumped onto the floor. Seriously, it was like Jim Carrey in The Mask. A-woooooga. I started to get a little nervous so I retreated back into Ranger's room. Ranger followed me in.

"You clean up pretty nice," he said, a hint of a smile appearing on his lips.

I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow. "What, I'm not normally this hot?" I was trying to cover up my embarrassment with a witty comment but it was doing nothing for me.

Ranger's smile widened a bit and he looked me up and down, but not in a hey-I'd-like-to-shag-you way. In any case, it didn't help the color of my face. "Where are you going to put the blackjack?"

I glanced down at my white stilettos. "I'm not going to carry a blackjack tonight," I said, "but there will be a knife in my purse." I'd figured that it wouldn't be very sexy to be carrying around my old, ratty, canvas messenger bag so I'd bought a little light blue handbag to match my skirt.

Ranger nodded and led the way to the elevator. Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Jordan all piled in with us.

"So…after I lure the guy out of the bar, and you guys haul him off to the clink…what happens then?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"We come home and veg," said Lester, leaning back against the elevator wall.

"That's fun," I said.

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I was in a shiny black SUV with Ranger and he was explaining the situation to me. Randy Winston was charged with drug dealing, gun dealing, assault, first degree murder, and to top it all off….indecent exposure. Can you say eek? I got more apprehensive as Ranger pulled up in front of Durty Harry's. I was looking at Winston's picture, trying to memorize the icky, scar-ridden face.

"Ew," I said.

"No kidding. But don't worry, you'll be wearing a wire, and you'll have a panic button. Do you have your ID?"

I grinned at him and flashed him my ID that showed my age as 21. "Yup."

"Normally I would have had one of my men undercover as a bartender, but I've been after this guy so many times he's recognized one of my crew every single time." He reached across me to open the glove compartment. He pulled out a box and opened it. Inside was a little microphone attached to a little wire. "Tank, Bobby, Lester, Jordan, and I will all be able to hear everything you say," he said, handing me the wire and some electrical tape. He pulled out a little black remote with a red button on it. "For any reason you can't speak, press this button. It will notify us that you need help."

I took the remote and dropped it in my bag. Then I looked down at the microphone and wire in my hand. "Where do I put it?" I asked Ranger.

Ranger looked at me. "Where it can't be seen," he said. I think I knew what he meant.

"Ah," I said and Ranger politely looked away while I secured the microphone just beneath my bra.

"All set," I said when I was done.

"Before you get Winston's attention, do a check that we can hear you over the mic. I'll call you when I hear you."

I saluted him. "Aye-aye, captain!" Then I jumped out of the SUV and sashayed into the bar.

It wasn't a very big room. But it was lively enough. The perfect place to get drunk with your buddies. Most of the men sat at the bar while most of the women sat in little groups around little tables and booths. There were TVs in the upper corners up the room, mostly tuned to sports. I scanned the room, looking for Winston. He was a big, greasy guy with shaggy black hair and a jagged scar on his face. He was sitting isolated at the end of the bar. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.

"Yuck," I said out loud. Thirty seconds later Ranger called me back saying he could hear me loud and clear.

I sighed and tried to look defeated, like I had just got dumped or something. I made my way over to Winston, sitting two stools down from him. The bartender was busy elsewhere, so I propped my head up on one hand and sighed dejectedly. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and knew Winston was checking me out. I ignored him, trying to look lost in my own little depressing world. Winston kept his distance until the bar tender came back.

"What'll it be, little lady?" The barkeep asked me.

"Martini, dry," I said, sliding him my ID. That was my little secret. If you wait for the bartender to card you, he'll always be a little suspicious. There are plenty of people out there who are over twenty-one but still get carded, so they just offer their ID right off the bat. It's more convincing that way if you're faking it.

A glass appeared in front of me. I reached into my bag for my wallet but Winston was handing the bartender money. "It's on me," he said smoothly.

Ick. Winston moved over a stool so he was right next to me. I made a show of assessing him over my glass. He held out his hand to me. "Randy Winston," he said.

I took his hand, gagging on the inside. "Jamie," I said, "Thanks for getting that." I smiled a little sheepishly, "I don't think I even have any money."

He held onto my hand just a bit too long. "I saw you looking so sad over here and knew you needed some pampering."

Gag me. Just do it now. I sent him a shy smile but didn't respond. That just made him more intrigued. Am I good or what?

"Why, I ask myself, does such a beautiful young woman look so sad?" He asked, laying his hand on mine. I wouldn't have been surprised if boils popped up all over my hand.

I sighed again and took another sip of my martini. "Ah you know…the typical cheating boyfriend." When looking for a man to manipulate, always play damsel in distress.

Winston's hand moved to my leg. "Why would he do that to a goddess such as yourself?" he asked, sliding his hand up my leg. Gag me with a spoon. A fork. Anything you can get your hands on. Just gag me. Goddess? What the fuck? If I wasn't so disgusted I would be laughing right now. I turned back to my drink on the bar and fiddled with the little plastic sword that had the olive on it.

"I don't know. I guess I just wasn't good enough," I let my voice catch and then quickly turned away, trying to make it look like I was going to cry.

Winston reached out a hand and took my chin in his hand, pulling me back to face him. Ew. Winston cooties. This guy was seriously slimy. "Now darling," he said silkily, "don't say such things about yourself."

I picked up my little plastic sword and sucked on the olive. Winston's eyes went to my lips, then to my breasts, southward farther, and then back up to my eyes. By this time I had eaten the olive. Not to mention I was sufficiently creeped out by this guy.

I looked down shyly, "Maybe I'm just looking for a man…an older, more mature man to…help me through this…" I looked back into his eyes with a shy smile. I could swear I saw a little spittle form at the corners of his mouth. Ew. His hand slid up a little further and I had to fight with every nerve in my body to resist smacking him. His other hand was still on my face, gently stroking my cheek. I wanted nothing more than to get out of here. I hated this. I hated when guys hit on me and touched me like this. It made me feel gross.

"Why don't we go somewhere a little more…private? You can let out all your feelings to me," Winston said, sliding a bit closer to me. I smiled at him, knocked back the rest of my drink, and took his hand. I led him to the front doors and out of the bar. The instant we got onto the sidewalk Winston was being cuffed and told that he skipped his court date and needed to go to the police station. Winston resisted at first but was calmed down with the help of a stun gun. I was standing by one of the SUVs, rubbing my bare arms and trying to rid myself of the feeling of his hands on me. Ranger caught sight of me and sauntered over.

"Great job, Jamie," he said with a dazzling grin, "I bet something could have exploded he'd only be paying attention to you."

I grinned back. "He's a creep. Anything with two legs, two tits, and a vagina would have kept his attention."

Ranger smiled and shook his head. "I swear I could feel my heart breaking just listening to you talk about getting cheated on."

I shrugged. "Yeah well I've had a lot of experience getting cheated on so it wasn't that hard." It was true. Every single one of boyfriends (all five of them) cheated on me. I couldn't understand it.

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It was only eight fourty-two when we got back to the hotel and I was bored. I had changed into a pair of Lester's sweats and a tank-top. The boys were sitting were all sitting on the bed or on the floor, watching TV. I stood there, hands on hips, assessing them.

"So this is all you guys do?"

Five grunts.

"Christ on a moped, you people are boring. I'm going on a walk, so if any of you want to join me, you can."


	4. Stripping the Universe and Friends

I grabbed my bag, slipped into a pair of flip-flops, and left. Halfway down the hall I realized that Ranger was following me.

I grinned at him. "Howdy."

"Yo," he said with a smile.

We left the hotel in silence. "Nice night," I said. It was warm and people were still out, talking and laughing and drinking.

"I've always liked working in Key West," Ranger said, looking around.

"So why did you agree to come bail me out?" I asked suddenly.

"Because I was coming down here anyway and I could use you as bait."

"And here I thought you did it out of the kindness of your heart," I said, rolling my eyes.

Ranger laughed. "There was some of that."

"Really?"

"Really."

Wow. Here was a guy I'd met a week ago via stealing his car. And he had been nice enough to give me medical attention free of charge, buy me a plane ticket, drive me to the airport, and _wait_ with me for my plane to come. And then a week later he bails me out of jail. I hardly knew this guy, but somehow I knew I could trust his with my life.

"You must be a saint or something, buddy, 'cause everyone else woulda' killed me for stealing their car."

"Oh believe me, I was planning on it, but then I found you in the rest-stop bathroom and my motherly instincts kicked in."

I laughed out loud. We were two blocks away from the hotel at this point and we crossed the street to avoid drunken people piling out of clubs.

"Really," Ranger said, "I don't like seeing people get hurt, unless it's me who's hurting them. Even then it's not that fun to watch."

"Oh boy," I said.

We walked in silence for a while. The sidewalk we were on led us to the beach. Ranger bought us some ice cream at a little stand and we sat down on the sand. It really was a nice night. The sun had set already but it wasn't too dark. The air was warm and there was a little breeze. Waves rolled lazily in and out, washing over the shore. Ranger and I sat in silence, licking our ice cream and contemplating the universe.

"So you just up and left?" Ranger asked suddenly.

"Yep," I said, instantly knowing what he was talking about.

"And you never looked back?"

"Nope. I was too excited about where I was going."

"I tried to run away from home once," Ranger said thoughtfully, "I think I was about your age, too. I had just had a huge fight with my father."

"What happened?" I asked, looking at him.

"I made it about three miles away and passed a bakery. The sight of cakes reminded me so much of my mother I burst into tears and ran the whole way home. That was the last fight my dad and I ever had."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"My parents were pretty cool. They let me do stuff. I've got two older sisters who are out of college and have their own lives, so I was pretty bored most of the time."

"Are you in contact with your sisters?"

"Stephanie I called a couple times, but she just got divorced and I don't know where she's living now. Valerie lives in California and I think if I ever called her she'd find me and drag me back home by my hair."

Ranger laughed softly. "Did you get along with them?"

"Steph and I got along pretty well even though she's nine years older," I said, smiling, "She's kind of my idol. I jumped off the roof the instant I heard Steph had done it once. Valerie is a couple of years older than Stephanie so we couldn't really relate. Plus she was Miss Perfect all the time and that bugged the crap out of Stephanie and me both."

Ranger laughed. "That reminds me of my sisters."

"Sisters are weird like that," I said.

"We should probably be heading back," Ranger said after a while, "God knows what the guys are doing without me."

I laughed and stood up. "Well aren't you the self-centered one."

Ranger stood and looked over at me. "It's true. Without me to calm them down they'd have probably hired many a stripper by now."

I laughed again. "I can imagine that."

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It was a quarter to ten when we got back. The boys were still in front of the TV watching a baseball game. Ranger and I came in right as someone hit a grand slam and everyone was jumping up and down in happiness…except for Tank who was pissed.

"White Sox ain't your team, huh?" I asked Tank, sitting next to him on the floor.

"No way, I'm all for the Cubs," he said, glaring at the TV.

The baseball game got boring after a while so I got up and grabbed my bag, rooting around in it for a stack of cards. I found one and held it up. "Anyone up for a game of poker?"

Jordan, Ranger's older brother, grinned at me from his place on the bed. "Only if it's strip poker."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're on."

It was a stampede to get around the little table in the mini kitchen. I shuffled the cards but before I dealt I laid down some rules.

"Okay, so here's the deal. Whoever wins gets to pick who takes off what. I'm not a legal adult yet, so it's probably illegal for me to be playing this with you guys, so I'm not going further than underwear." Nods of agreement all around. I narrowed my eyes at them. "And you can all keep your hands to yourselves or I'll shove your gonads halfway up your throat."

That got me a lot of winces, and the game was on.

I won a lot, so within half an hour all the guy's shirts were off. Before dealing again I took a minute to admire all the beautifully tones chests in a variety of color tones. "Holy crap," I said, "Stephanie will be _so_ jealous when I tell her about this."

That got a lot of laughs. I reached over into my bag and pulled out the Polaroid camera I'd gotten earlier that day. I took a picture of the scene in front of me and this earned me more laughter.

"I never want to forget this moment," I said.

The game progressed quickly. Lester won the next hand, and he grinned at me expectantly. Everyone hooted as I shed my tank top. Thank god I hadn't taken my bra off.

By eleven everyone was in various stages of undress. I was only in my underwear—rainbow booty shorts and black bra—Ranger, Tank, and Lester were down to boxers, and Bobby still had on his cargos. Ranger's boxers were black silk. Tank's were red, which contrasted nicely with his dark skin, and Lester's were bugs bunny. Go figure. I kept taking pictures. All in all, it was a fun night. Finally we decided enough was enough when Bobby threw his cargos into the pile of black clothes, and everyone retreated to their rooms.

I looked over at Ranger, still in his black silk boxers. "Where am I staying?"

"I'm the only one not sharing a room, so you can stay here."

The problem was, there was no couch for me to sleep on. I could just sleep on the floor, I suppose, but that wouldn't be comfortable. For the first time in my life, was genuinely freaked out. Here I was, alone in a room with a guy I didn't know, in my underwear. My worst fear in the world was being raped. My friend was raped by her boyfriend and she never trusted a guy again. It shook me up, as well. That was the only thing I was afraid of.

Ranger noticed my panic. "I'm not going to do anything to you, Jamie."

I took a deep breath. "I know."

Ranger nodded and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower. Feel free to take the bed, and I can sleep on the floor." He said and disappeared into the bathroom. Holy wow. Did he just give me the bed? I pulled my sweats and tank top back on and crossed the room to the bed. I slid under the covers and stared at the ceiling, listening to the shower running.

I may have actually made some good friends. I had been hoping to meet some people I could make friends with and possibly travel with. I didn't want to travel alone, especially when I leave the country. It's not like I was going to ask Ranger if I could follow him around. I knew we were going to go our separate ways pretty soon, and I had the feeling we would probably meet again.

Ranger came out of the bathroom wearing the silk boxers. His hair was wet, hanging almost down to his shoulders. I watched him pull it back with a hair tie and amble over to the bed. He grabbed a pillow from beside me and laid down on the floor, beside the bed. I rolled over to look down at him.

"Don't you want a blanket?" I asked.

"I've slept in colder climates," he answered me, yawning.

"Alrighty then. It's nice of you to let me have the bed."

"I didn't want to send you into a panic attack. And besides, I don't think it would be legal for us to even share a bed."

I smiled at him and rolled onto my back. I let the silence float by for a second and spoke up again.

"Ranger, my buddy, I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Ranger just snorted. "Go to sleep, Jamie."

I smiled. I was right.

SO that's the story of How Ranger And Jamie Met And Became Friends. Time to keep working on my other stuff...

---Bowling for Shrimp


End file.
